The Labor Department said Thursday that initial jobless claims for the week ending April 13th came in at a seasonally adjusted 352,000 which was slightly higher than expectations of 350,000 and an increase of 4,000 over last week’s numbers.

The employment market has not yet rebounded even four years into the President’s economic recovery plan that included multiple rounds of stimulus, cash-for-clunkers, the auto bailout and more.

The latest reports will likely feed into Federal Reserve considerations of whether to continue massive liquidity dumps including an $85 billion per month bond-buying program intended to keep interest rates low. The Fed has indicated that it will continue stimulus activities until the labor market recovers to acceptable levels.

With labor participation rates at 40 year lows, a recovery is likely far off.

Guillaume Paumier / Wikimedia Commons, CC-BY-3.0

The Department of Labor’s monthly Employment Situation Report was released today with disturbingly bad news – the largest percentage of Americans since 1979 have just given up on the idea of ever finding work in the Obama economy.

The civilian labor force declined by 496,000 over the month, and the labor force participation rate decreased by 0.2 percentage point to 63.3 percent.

Economists had expected that 200,000 or more jobs would be created in March, instead only 88,000 jobs were added. A number demonstrative of a declining employment situation and perhaps a receding economy.

Even with the poor fundamentals, the popular statistic – the unemployment rate – dropped to 7.6%. The drop is due to the almost half-million Americans dropping out of the work force and no longer being counted as “unemployed.”

The retail sector took the largest hit with more than 24,000 jobs being lost in March. Most-likely due to the tax increases on Americans put in-place by the Obama administration in January. More money is going to the federal government leaving less for private citizens to utilize.

Average hourly earnings had been increasing until March. Up until then, earners had seen their pay increase by an average of 42 cents over the past year. In this most recent report, earnings slid backwards by a penny showing possible signs of a trend reversal.

Not since Jimmy Carter has the American economy seen such harmful policies come to such a disastrous outcome. Higher taxes, over-regulation, healthcare reform and out-of-control spending are having the effects most on the right have expected – and fought against – for quit some time.

President Obama has been pushing gun control, talking about sequestration as if it were doomsday and has now pivoted to immigration reform while the economy struggles to recover under the weight of an overgrown government.

Recent Gallup polling shows that Americans top three concerns are the economy, federal spending and healthcare – all items upon which the White House is failing to lead.

68% of respondents said that the economy are most concerned about the economy, 61% felt that federal spending was a concern and 59% were very concerned about healthcare with gas prices and unemployement closely behind.

The Gallup Economic Confidence Index also took a dive from it’s January high of -8 to a current reading of -16.

Americans continue to assess current economic conditions more negatively than positively, with 18% saying they are excellent or good and 37% rating them as poor. This equates to a net current conditions score of -19, down from -17 the week prior. – Gallup

On the subject of jobs, a Gallup poll show a steady drop in American’s hope for finding quality jobs. At the beginning of Obama’s first term, 90% felt that they could find a job they wanted. As of March 20th, only 74% feel the same way.

A Rasmussen survey found that only 31% of Americans feel the economy is getting better.

With American’s perceptions of the economy faultering, where is the President’s laser-like focus on Jobs?

President Obama has taken some actions on jobs and the economy. The President has disbanded the jobs council he formed in his first term and had ignored every since. Obama also pushed for the tax increases that hit business owners, middle-income and low-income earners. The administration has also taken several actions to hinder the growth of the natural gas industry.

The unemployment rate edged down to 7.7 percent in February but has shown 
little movement, on net, since September 2012. The number of unemployed 
persons, at 12.0 million, also edged lower in February.

While the unemployment rate dropped two-tenths of a percent from January, fewer people are working. As the report goes on to tout 236,000 jobs added one wonders how fewer people could be working and the number of people having jobs could go up?

The easy answer is that two different sets of numbers make up the BLS report: the Household Survey and the Establishment Survey.

The Household survey counts the following in its numbers:

- Agriculture and related employment;
- Uncompensated Workers;
- Part Time Workers;
- Unpaid Family Employees;
- Workers absent without pay from their jobs;
- Self employed, Work-at-home Contractors;

The Establishment survey counts none of that in its numbers.

The additional 236,000 jobs came from the more reliable Establishment survey which is collected from payroll data. The less reliable Household survey showed the number of people having jobs dropping and a stale labor participation rate.

While that explains the self-contradicting report, it does not mean things are getting better. They are just getting less worse. 236,000 new jobs is not near what economist estimate is required to employ new entrants into the workforce – much less those trying to move from part-time to full-time or recover from a lost job.

Despite the fact that more than 12 million people in the U.S. are still out of work.

Obama’s allies will point out that when the jobs council began two years ago, unemployment was above 9 percent and has since improved to 7.8 percent.  What they conveniently overlook is that the unemployment number has shifted downwards in large part due to people who have exceeded their unemployment benefits are no longer being counted.

So, if you are a middle aged worker who has experienced long term unemployment, you have forever lost what for most people were the peak earning years of life.  A time when under normal circumstances, the opportunity to save for retirement was most feasible financially.

Instead you were drawing unemployment benefits worth less than half what you used to make.  As the result, instead of saving for retirement, you reduced your expenditures (read: standard of living) by half.

Not to mention the loss of medical, vacation, 401k and other employer provided benefits.

Then to add insult to injury, the self-imagined, self-appointed “progressive” intellectual elite ruling class decide that the expiration of the unemployment benefits that sustained your Spartan existence means that for the purposes of their statistics, you are no longer out of work.

Even if you have honestly sought work for years and have been unsuccessful thanks to an economy crippled by their “progressive” economic policies, have used up all your personal savings and are a month or two away from living on the street.

The reality of long term unemployment is not being accurately portrayed by the Obama administration, their “progressive” political allies, or their devoted supporters within the institutionalized “progressive” left.

The economy is not growing.  Jobs are not being created.  If you are unemployed, prospects for future employment look bleak.

Their big government “stimulus” spending was devoted primarily to helping their “progressive” allies in blue states that needed the money to balance their own indebted balance sheets.

Every dollar spent on “stimulus” was obtained through a tax on the private sector.  Instead of the private sector having the money they earned to invest in growing business and creating jobs, it was sent to Washington DC, where the cost of an ever growing, bloated bureaucracy was first removed, then redistributed to those deemed fit by the same self-imagined, self-appointed “progressive” intellectual elite ruling class that has shown through their handling of the nation’s unemployment statistics that they are far more concerned with retaining their own grip on power than truly helping the little guy.

If you have a job, thank God and pray to keep it.

http://mjfellright.wordpress.com/2013/01/31/the-reality-of-long-term-unemployment/

On occasion, even the left leaning NBCNews must report the truth:

For many the Lincolnton Furniture closing is symbolic of Obama’s Economic “Recovery”. The closure comes the same week that the December jobs report shows unemployment stalled at 7.8% and the labor force participation rate continues to be at a record low 63%  according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Obama track record of promoting businesses that either closed or layed-off employees during his tenure has become legendary. Rush Limbaugh calls it the Obama Effect. But for the people of Lincolnton, North Carolina it is a sign that the country is not making the progress so many had hoped. Lots less ‘Forward’ and lots more stuck in a rut.

Singer Allen Stone

The Chewelah, Washington native starts out the song with lyrics that speak to the ineffectiveness of the Government:
“Every day, the deficit grows
You spend more than you own
Papa always said to me
Keep a close eye on your authority”

The 25 year old musician even questions if the United States is still a free country:
“Every day, taxes increase,
So is this our land or is this our lease?
Papa said, “Son, it’s the land of the free,”
As he broke his back trying to make ends meet,

The song then finishes out with a sex-laden trail about what we can do with the dollars that we have left in our pockets:
“All you do is push, pull, tear,
We can’t stretch it any farther,
Push, pull, tear,
We can’t stretch any farther”

You can watch the video of the song in its entirety below:

h/t Jen Oldham
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For Rep. Danny K. Davis, Illinois Democrat, the “fiscal cliff” fight came down to one thing: the unemployment checks the government will still be able to send to thousands of his constituents.

“When I go to church on Sunday, I know that I will see people with the assurance that pretty soon an unemployment check is in the mail,” he said.

Now, the entire European Union (EU) has offered its response to youth (people younger than 25 years of age) unemployment problem. The EU has proposed, and I am being serious here, that ALL youth be guaranteed a job. The youth unemployment rate for the entire EU for the summer of 2012 was 22.7 percent (it was 16.8 percent in the US), with Greece, Italy, and Spain having much higher rates. From Frankfurter Allgemeine:

“The Member States of the European Union should guarantee all people aged less than 25 years in the future, within four months some form of employment. These governments should issue a so-called youth guarantee….”

There are, of course, two “minor” problems with the EU scheme. First, an EU commission headed by László Andor did not specify how this goal (youth employment guarantee) was to be achieved. It’s easy to offer a solution to a problem (talk is cheap), but quite another thing to explain specifically how the problem will be solved. Second, the EU should consider this fact: work rules, pension rules, and other rules are so harsh that companies simply do not want to hire workers regardless of age.

For some perspective, there have been more than 40,000 people killed in Syria, with the death toll rising daily, but the EU is not particularly concerned about that. North Korea has launched a three-stage rocket, moving closer to their goal of developing a nuclear-tipped ICBM. They are sharing nuclear weapons technology with Iran, the world’s leading sponsors of terrorism. But the EU does not seem to be worried about that either. That is the same EU that, earlier this year, won the Nobel Peace Prize. It is also the same EU that is “concerned” about Israel building on a 4.6 square piece of land in order to protect itself. It appears that the EU’s lack of consistency is showing. Perhaps it should get its own house in order before sticking its nose in others’ business.

And, I think it was Albert Einstein who said, “Doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results, is a sign of insanity.” So, that means that Obama is soon to try to emulate what France and the EU are currently doing.

But that’s just my opinion.

Please visit RWNO, my personal web site.

Soledad O’Brien reminds Americans that we’re still a bunch of racist goons at heart.

Doug Perkins with Givingmusic.org joins me for my Christmas charity series – highlighting a different charity each show until Christmas.

Tune in tonight at 10pm ET/7pm Pacific on the CDNews Network on Blogtalk radio.

UPDATE: Listen to a replay of the show here or follow the link to download.

As Angela Morabito at The College Conservative wrote on November 28, women are just more ambitious at the moment.  Also, she disagreed with Venker, with whom she says got ‘gender politics wrong.’  As such, she injected a little Adam Smith into her argument.

It is true that women are getting more college degrees than our male counterparts.  That’s not because we are angry. It’s because you have to compete to get into college and the majority of the recent winners have been female. It is not because we are female that we have won: Competition drives the application process. Competition is what also should drive the economy. When we compete based on merit, and one team wins, all competitors improve in the process.

However, I would say that affirmative action policies also had a part in increasing women’s enrollment into higher education.  Yet, that’s a separate debate.  Furthermore, Morabito added that:

We  [conservatives] cannot be – nor should we be – the side that thinks women are too ambitious, too smart, or too driven. America needs all hands on deck to pull us out of this recession.  Individual liberty, personal responsibility, and freedom can still work for us today. These principles are strongest when everyone, including women, participates.

This is real conservative feminism: Women have the same freedoms as men and the same responsibilities as men. Wealth is allocated according to what we do with our freedoms and how we manage our responsibilities.  Gender doesn’t need to enter the equation.  The Left is going to freak out about it because they think women need special government “help.” But what we’re seeing now is that it’s just not true – we aren’t some feeble, marginalized group that flounders without Big Brother.

Yet, I feel inclined to defend Venker for a moment.  she mentioned in her column – and it’s true – that men worked to sustain themselves, find a woman, love her to death, and start a family.  We’re then happily burdened with providing and protecting our families, and that’s what we’ve been doing for nearly ten thousand years.  The system worked, and I liked it.

I’m the product of a household where Dad worked and Mom stayed home caring for me, loving me (to death), feeding me, and fussed over me.  She did this with my older brother and sister as well.  As a little tyke, I was King Tut.  Life was good.  However, the dynamics have changed, and we must adapt.  We’re a nation of two income households, but women have increased their share of bacon they bring home.

Liza Mundy has written about this shift in her new book, The Richer Sex, where she predicts that women will be the majority of breadwinners by 2030.  She calls it the ‘Big Flip.’  However, there have been many ‘big flips’ in socioeconomic history.  The Industrial Revolution, the invention of the Cotton gin, and the transition from an agrarian to a manufacturing-based economy in the U.S. are all prime examples of such shifts. But women were never as involved as they are now.  Hence, guys, and some conservative gals, shouldn’t freak out as much.  This is all part of the cyclical life of economic progression.  We shouldn’t be afraid.

Where Venker, I think, freaked out women, especially left-wing women, is her assertion that they’re the ones responsible for being incompatible with marriage due to their focus on building a career.  To be precise, Venker said that “fortunately, there is good news: women have the power to turn everything around. All they have to do is surrender to their nature – their femininity – and let men surrender to theirs. If they do, marriageable men will come out of the woodwork.”  This is troll city.  I can only imagine the uproar that would ensue if a woman told men to surrender their masculinity to be successful in the 21st century economy.  My response would’ve been similar: “like hell I will!”

On this rare occasion, I actually agree with what Lauren Boyle’s November 27 column on Huffington Post, where she noted that Venker’s piece degrades men.

So, if you’re keeping score at home, Venker has 1) implied that young men are pathetic, 2) flat-out stated that they don’t want to compete with women and 3) suggested that, if not corralled, all men want is sex and meaningless relationships without responsibility. If that isn’t offensive to men, what is?

Venker refers to the hundreds of men upon which she bases her opinions. But these men she describes bear no resemblance of the young men I know, who celebrate the successes of women in their lives and value them for their professional contributions.

Well, that’s because we know our existence depends on it! No, just kidding, but given the Republican Party’s abysmal stance with young, single women – we should embrace female advances in the workplace.  It’s very much aligned with conservative values.  After all, we’re the party that supports free market achievements.  Morabito puts it succinctly:

Conservatism, at its core, means equality of opportunity. We’re not there yet in this country, but we get closer every time we cut bureaucracy and improve our schools. This is, after all, what makes it easiest for more people to achieve at a high level. In a free market we all compete with one another. In a free market workers are valued for their skills, and not because of any union or demographic group they may belong to. The free market cares about cost and value. It does not care about male versus female.  Venker’s “war on men” is unfounded, just like the “war on women.” It’s time for men and women on both ends of the political spectrum to call for a ceasefire.

YES! Taking a step back from the gender politics for a second, the emphasis on the equality of opportunity is highly salient.  Both Republicans and Democrats used to agree on this.  However, we’ve seen a perverse reversal within American liberalism that stresses equality of outcome, which is indicative of the liberal dependency agenda. An agenda that is being implemented aggressively at the federal level by this current administration.  The more people on food stamps or any government program, equalizes the playing field, and enhances the public good.  Our constitution was never meant to be compatible with social dynamics of this nature.

Morabito sets the ground work for a winning narrative ahead of the 2014 elections.  Democrats needs to divide, identify, and exploit groups to win.  Hence, why they have a fetishistic attitude towards the ‘war on women,’ abortion, contraceptives, MediScaring, and racism – which are all tools that are successful in galvanizing a rabid liberal electorate.  That’s how Obama won in 2012.  Then again, it also helps the opposition when your side doesn’t make the argument.  Nevertheless, if Republicans can convey a message that is malleable with the 21st century economy – it will shatter the ‘demography is destiny’ narrative liberals are peddling right now.  Furthermore, telling women to not be barefoot, pregnant, and in the kitchen in order to be marriageable also helps.

Granted, there are still jobs that are better executed by a specific gender.  Case in point, Morabito aptly says men are better suited for professional football and women are better Victoria’s Secret models. Yet, these examples are rare.  Nevertheless, I would say the Venker does focus too much on being ‘doom and gloom.’  As I’ve said before, we, as guys, need to adapt.  Hanna Rosin, author of The End of Men, aptly made the observation that women are more flexible, and men are cardboard in this new economy.  That’s ok.  We just need to stretch more.

Like modernizing the messaging of conservatism, I look at this challenge with optimism.  Bring it on! As Barney Stinson would say, “challenge accepted.”

On a more personal note, it’s not a bad thing women are more ambitious to get into the trenches.  I have a sister, who is a mother of two, that works full-time in the human resources department at the Philadelphia Art Museum.  My sister-in-law does the same work at a non-profit in Doylestown, Pennsylvania.  I have two nieces, ages 13 months and two years old, and I hope they’re offered the same opportunities that were afforded to me. After all, they’re Vespas – and hard-work is a cornerstone of our family.

So, for the guys who are part of the ‘pissed off coalition,’ which Venker alludes to in her piece.  I suggest look at your family dynamics.  Are you really going to tell members of your own family, who are female, that they should surrender her femininity in order to get married?  That would be absurd.  It’s not a woman’s world, then again it’s no longer a man’s world either.  It’s not the end of men, but a beginning of an equilibrium amongst men and women in the workforce.  To keep the balance, guys need to get more animated, and stop slamming reading as a ‘girly’ activity.  When did that become a hallmark of masculinity?

Finally, let’s think of it in these terms.  As men, we’ve ruled the world since the beginning of time.  I don’t know about you, but I would be exhausted.  Thank God for women to help us pick up the slack.

Originally posted on The Young Cons.

But the U-6 unemployment rate, which is 14.6 percent, includes people who are working part-time but are available for full-time work, as well as those who said the want to work but can’t find a job (marginally attached), as well as the long-term unemployed (discouraged workers).

The BLS publishes monthly U-1 through U-6 unemployment rates. So, with (at least) two unemployment rates from which to choose, and the fact that the unemployment rates don’t begin to tell the complete economic story, some further perspective (information) is warranted.

Let’s first examine long-term unemployment. The BLS categorizes anyone unemployed for more than six months (27 weeks) as long-term unemployed. The long-term unemployed presently comprise (seasonally adjusted) 40.6 percent of those unemployed, or 5,002,000 people. The percentage was 40.1 percent, or 4,844,000 people last month. The percentage has been above 40 since December 2009. Long-term unemployment has remained above 5 million people (except September 2012) since August 2009. These figures suggest that the US economy is not creating enough jobs to hire the long-term unemployed, that weak jobs growth is only enough to keep up with population growth.

The long-term unemployed use the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) disability
program as a safety net when their unemployment insurance runs out. The number receiving SSDI benefits has risen by 24 percent, or 1.7 million people, since the recession began in 2007. Daniel Hamermesh, an economist at the University of Texas, said, “There are fewer of us experiencing unemployment, but those who are out are out a lot longer.” And, the number of people unemployed for over 99 weeks, the point where unemployment benefits run out, has grown from 467,000 in January 2009, to the present number of 1.8 million, a 385 percent increase.

Another problem with long-term unemployment is that it can become structural unemployment, meaning that the long-term unemployed no longer meet employers’ needs and/or are no longer considered employable.

It is interesting to note that, under Obama’s economy, long-term unemployment has almost doubled, from 2.6 million in January 2009, to 5 million today. And his policies, such as ObamaCare, higher taxes, higher energy costs, and compulsory unionism, make that number very hard to reduce.

Note also that the long-term unemployed are not part of the U-3 unemployment rate.

Now let’s examine Obama’s jobs record versus what he has done with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, the new name for foodstamps). According to Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL), chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, the rate of foodstamps growth has been 75 times that of job growth. Said
Sessions:

“Simply put, the President’s policies have not produced jobs. During his time in office, 14.7 million people were added to the food stamp rolls. Over that same time, only 194,000 jobs were created – thus 76 people went on foodstamps for every one that found a job. This is a product of low growth. Post-recession economic growth in 2010 was 2.4%, and dropped in 2011 to 1.8%. This year it has dropped again to 1.77%. Few, if any, net jobs will be created with growth of less than 2%.”

According to this chart, a net of 194,000 jobs have been created, while at the same time 14.7 million people have been added to the foodstamps rolls. Expressed as a percentage, foodstamp rolls have increased by 46 percent, while job growth has increased by 0.15 percent. The chart is based upon the most recent figures available. There were, in January 2009, about 133.56 million Americans with jobs, and about 133.76 million Americans with jobs in October 2012. That represents a 200,000 jobs growth, or about 0.15 percent. In January 2009, 32 million people were on foodstamps, while in July 2012, 46.7 million people were on foodstamps. That’s an increase of 14.7 million people, an increase of almost 46 percent.  (Yes, some rounding is going on here!)

This chart illustrates, foodstamp expenditure growth pre-dates Obama, but Obama certainly perfected its growth. In fact, Obama has spent more in four years ($290 billion, 2009-2012) than Bush did in eight years ($237 billion, 2001-2008).

Sessions’ comments about foodstamps and jobs give new perspective to the October 2012, employment and unemployment rates, don’t they?

Just so you know, the federal government spent over $1 trillion in 2011 on welfare (of which SNAP is a part) – that’s over $59,500 per impoverished household. The median income for working Americans was about $50,000. Judicial Watch said:

“The Obama Administration has been promoting food stamps like there’s no tomorrow, even offering states that sign up the most recipients cash bonuses. For example, Wisconsin got a $5 million performance bonus for its efficiency in adding food-stamp recipients to already bulging rolls.”

It’s no wonder that Obama won the election. Obama (and the MSM) emphasized the U-3 unemployment rate, while ignoring the long-term unemployed problem, and by buying votes by increasing government dependency as fast as he could.

But that’s just my opinion.

Please visit RWNO, my personal web site.

Picture courtesy Wikimedia

This could be it. The end of the Hostess Twinkie. Of course, those still in their packages may last forever, but it’s possible there will be no more Twinkies.

The Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers union (BCTGM) has gone on strike against manufacturer Hostess. The company announced today they will file for liquidation if striking employees do not return to work by the end of the day. According to Hostess:

“We simply do not have the financial resources to survive an ongoing national strike,” said Gregory F. Rayburn, the Company’s Chairman and CEO. “Therefore, if sufficient employees do not return to work by 5 p.m., EST, on Thursday to restore normal operations, we will be forced to immediately move to liquidate the entire Company, which will result in the loss of nearly 18,000 jobs. It is now up to Hostess’ BCTGM represented employees and Frank Hurt, their international president, to decide if they want to call off the strike and save this Company, or cause massive financial harm to thousands of employees and their families.”

The BCTGM response claims that Hostess has had significant mismanagement from the top down claiming that the six CEO’s in the past eight years have had no bread and cake baking industry experience. According to the union website the workers and their union have ‘absolutely no responsibility for the failure of this company.’

“I am sure that our members would be agreeable to return to work as soon as the company rescinds the implementation of the horrendous wage and benefit reductions, including pension, and the restoration of the cuts that have already taken place.”

One has to wonder how much better off the Hostess workers will be filing for unemployment next week? Is no job better than a salary reduction? Across the country many industry workers have taken sizable cuts rather than losing their job. Is the union forcing workers to ‘cut off their nose to spite their face?’

Many of the media are blaming this shocking increase on the Superstorm Sandy.

Bloomberg: “Based on previous extreme-weather episodes, we typically see the associative claims coming in over several weeks,” Jim O’Sullivan, chief U.S. economist for High Frequency Economics Ltd. in Valhalla, New York, said before the report. “It’s not a booming labor market, but it is a recovering labor market. Certainly prior to the storm, there was no sign that there was any deterioration.”

MSNBC: An analyst from the department said several states from the mid-Atlantic and Northeast reported large increases in claims due to Sandy, a mammoth storm that slammed into the East Coast in late October.

But are they right?

A quick review of the Department of Labor’s website might indicate otherwise:

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending November 3 were in Pennsylvania (+7,766), Ohio (+6,450), New Jersey (+5,675), Michigan (+2,373), and Connecticut (+1,783), while the largest decreases were in California (-8,149), New York (-2,241), Florida (-939), Georgia (-913), and Indiana (-603).

While hard hit New Jersey did have a sizable increase probably attributable to the storm, the state of New York actually reported a decrease in claims.

The highest numbers of new filings came from Pennsylvania and Ohio, where there were thousands of layoffs in the construction, manufacturing, and automobile industries.

Those who watch the unemployment claim numbers have questioned recent reports and whether they were skewed to help the presidential election. Today’s numbers are causing many to ask, “Are we on the road to recovery, however slow and sloggy it might be? Or are we headed back into a recession if not a depression?”